In industry, weld joints are created by welding two or more work pieces together using welding techniques such as gas metal arc welding (GMAW), submerged arc welding, flux-cored arc welding, laser arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, plasma arc welding, etc. For certain applications, large joint variations (i.e., the largest width of the gap between the two work pieces the welding region) may be problematic. Specifically, certain welding techniques may be unable to create a sufficient weld joint if the joint variation is greater than a few millimeters.
One potential solution to joint variation problems is to manufacture the work pieces with stricter tolerances, such that the joint variation between the two work pieces decreases. This solution, however, may increase the manufacturing time and costs of the work pieces themselves, which may result in an increased cost to the final product.
Another solution is to develop welding techniques that are capable of creating weld joints for work pieces having larger joint variation. An exemplary system that may be used to generate weld joints with increased widths is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,154,065 to Martukanitz et al. that issued on Dec. 26, 2006 (the '065 patent). The '065 patent discloses a laser-based hybrid welding system that includes a laser welding process and an arc welding process, such as GMAW. In the system of the '065 patent, the laser beam oscillates in a direction that is perpendicular to a linear path along which the weld is being made. As the laser beam oscillates, it generates a keyhole in the work piece that is surrounded by molten metal. The keyhole is filled by a consumable material fed from the arc welder.
Although the system of the '065 patent may oscillate the laser beam to create wider weld joints, the '065 patent does not disclose that the arc welder may also oscillate, or describe any relationship between an oscillation of the laser beam and the arc welder. Thus, while the system of the '065 patent may provide increased weld joint depth over traditional laser welding, it still may not achieve weld joints that are wide enough for certain applications.
The disclosed dual-weave welding systems and methods are directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.